Scarlet Lady (8 page)

“I’m here,” he finally admitted, “to get my money back.”

That statement stopped her cold. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”

“I said, you cheated me out of eighteen grand and my boat.”

“You didn’t have to play poker with me. It was your choice.”

“It wasn’t my choice to play with a marked deck. I run a straight game. My word is my bond. I expect the same of the people I gamble with.”

“A marked deck? I don’t know anything about a marked deck.”

“And when people lie to me, I see that they get what they deserve. And you, my pretty lady, aren’t going to get away with cheating me.”

“Are you threatening me?” she asked, incredulity making her voice thready.

“Believe me, Miss Carithers, I don’t threaten lightly. I have the deck of cards that prove you cheated.”

She walked around behind the desk and sank into the chair behind it. “That can’t be. I don’t believe you.
How could the cards be marked? They were new, still in the wrapper.”

“There are ways. Where did you get them?” Montana asked softly.

“Why, I got them out of Carson’s …”

Her voice trailed off. Surely Carson hadn’t played with marked cards. If he had, he should have won. But Carson was so bad with numbers that even marked cards might not have helped. She looked down at her hands and saw she was holding the arms of the chair so tightly that her fingers were turning white.

Montana watched as she forced herself to let go and lean back. She closed her eyes as if she thought he might go away if she couldn’t see him.

Montana took a deep breath. Getting her hackles up wasn’t going to solve the problem. He wasn’t just here for himself. He’d given Mac his word he’d help. He had to find a way to calm things down. “No, Katie, in spite of what you may think, I’m trying to help you.”

“How did you find me?”

“I have my ways, Ms. Carithers. Trust me. I know what’s going on along the river.”

Katie shuddered. No matter what he said, there was no mistaking Montana’s threat. He really was one of the bad guys and she was beginning to think she hadn’t gotten out of Dodge. As much as she wanted it to be otherwise, she believed him when he said Carson hadn’t repaid the money.

“I don’t know how to convince you, Mr. Montana, but I can’t worry about what you think right now. If you haven’t seen Carson, I have to find him.”

Montana didn’t know where young Carson was, but if he was to be found, he and the lady in red had to work together. If she refused to work with him, he had to make her see that she had no choice.

That shouldn’t be too difficult. She was totally different this morning, almost as if she were another person. The faded gray sweatshirt she was wearing looked like one of her brother’s castoffs. It was too big, covering that luscious body, which she’d been so quick to show off last night, like a tent. The jeans were faded and worn, fitting her legs like a second skin. There were no feathers in her dark hair today, only a headband stuck on with little thought to style. In fact, she looked more like some street waif than the shady lady she’d been in the casino. Some tough street kid.

“If your brother used marked cards, I would have known it,” Montana said. “Any other time I would have known you were playing with a marked deck, but last night I was distracted.”

“You’ll have to prove the cards were marked.”

“I have a witness, and I have the cards and the wrapping with your fingerprints on them locked in my safe. So if you don’t want me to go to the authorities, you need to listen to what I have to say.”

Katie stared at him, eyes wide. “I know you have reason to distrust me, but I’m telling you that I always win at poker. I have this crazy mind that can keep track of cards and probabilities.”

“I don’t trust you, Katherine, but it wouldn’t matter anyway. We only played one hand and you were the dealer.”

“And I think you ought to remember that the money I won playing blackjack was with your cards and you were dealing. I won fair and square and you can’t prove any different.”

Montana walked over to the desk and placed his hands palms down on it, leaning over her. He wanted to jerk her from behind the desk and shake her. She believed what she said was the truth, but he didn’t believe it for a moment. She cheated.

“Listen, you little witch, you’re in way over your head here. You don’t deserve it, but I’m going to find your brother so don’t give me any more BS.”

She leaned forward in the faded leather chair. “I don’t think so, Mr. Montana. I don’t need your help and I don’t believe a word you’ve told me. I think it’s time for you to go now. I’m going to call the police.”

“Excellent idea,” he agreed. “Because if your brother is running around with my money, I want him found before he loses all of it.”

“He isn’t gambling.” She came to her feet, laying her hands on the desk palms down, the tips touching his. “Carson wouldn’t do that. He promised.”

“And this is the first time he’s promised?”

“No,” she admitted reluctantly. “But this time I’m sure he learned his lesson. He doesn’t want either of us to go out gambling anymore.”

“Don’t worry. You won’t be allowed to.”

She’d almost reached the end of her control. She had to make Mr. Rhett Butler Montana go so that she could decide what to do. “What you want is unimportant.”

“What I want is very important,” he said.

Everything she said was being overruled by a man who seemed intent on taking over her life. She lashed out desperately. “Well, it looks like I won’t have to gamble anymore. Not since I own a boat.”

Montana sucked in a breath, pressing his lips together as if he were trying to restrain himself. Clearly, he was about to erupt. Slowly, he sat down, took a cheroot from his pocket, and unwrapped it.

“I don’t allow smoking in my house,” she said.

“I’m not smoking,” he responded, jabbing the thin dark cigar in his mouth. “I’m thinking.”

“About what?”

“Be quiet, Katie. I’m going to tell you a story that not many people know.”

“Sorry, I don’t have time to listen to fairy tales. If you really haven’t seen Carson, then I have to find him. And quick. He may be in trouble.”

“I’m fairly certain he is. And I really think you’d better call the police.”

She couldn’t hold back a hollow laugh. “The truth is, I already have. I’m afraid they know Carson too well. When they’re talking about a Carithers, they pretend they’re concerned, but they don’t do anything.”

“That’s what I thought. So, it’s up to me.”

“Not you, Mr. Montana. Me. I’m the only family Carson has left and I’ll take care of the problem.”

“Why should you? Why not make him responsible for his own mess?”

She looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. “You don’t understand about family. My brother is all I have
left, and while I may not approve of his actions, I’ll never turn my back on him. It just isn’t the way I was brought up.”

“And I suppose you tote that barge and lift that bale,” he said with a humorless laugh. “What I’m wondering about is how you’re going to like the landing-in-jail part. I don’t think Carson will be around to get you out.”

“Carson will be there if I need him,” she protested. “Obviously you don’t have family, Mr. Montana.”

“Not anymore. At least not according to them.”

“They probably disowned you. I can understand that.” She’d flung out that accusation without thinking. From the look on his face, she knew she’d unwittingly found the truth.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean … I mean I’m certain they …”

“You’re right. They disowned me. When I was seventeen I did something they said they could never forgive. They haven’t. I wasn’t as fortunate as your brother. I didn’t have a sister to bail me out. I had to find my own way.”

Something about the pain in his voice stopped her anger.

She couldn’t imagine what kind of family turned their back on a seventeen-year-old, no matter what he did. “And you did it,” she said softly, “all by yourself.”

“No,” he said, standing. “I was as wild as your brother—for a while. Then someone helped me. If not for a stranger, a man I didn’t even know, I’d probably be dead or in jail—like your brother is going to be.”

She came around the desk, grabbing both his upper arms in a death grip. “Dead? Do you know something about Carson you’re not telling me?”

“No, not yet. But I will. If I have to find him to get the two of you off my back, that’s what I’ll do. What time did he leave here?”

“I’m not sure. I … I overslept. It was almost lunchtime when I got up and he was already gone.”

“Well I was on board the
Lady
and he didn’t come there. I would have been told.”

“Where could he have gone?”

Montana let out a deep sigh and disentangled himself from her grasp. “God only knows. With that much money in his pocket, he could be in Vegas by now.”

“No, he wouldn’t—” Katie began.

“Katherine, he would. The sooner you accept that, the better off we’ll both be.”

“We? Thanks, but I already told you, Carson’s my problem. I’ll handle him.”

“No, Carson’s my problem now. And if I’m going to find him, I’d better get going.”

“I’m going with you.”

“Until I know where he is, you aren’t going to get involved. There are some people who aren’t as kind to cheaters as I am.”

“If Carson had cheated, he wouldn’t have lost.”

“No, he would have been caught. I caught you and my guess is that you’re better at it than he is.”

Katie swore. The man was like a bulldog tugging on the south end of a grizzly going north. “One last time, I don’t cheat.”

“One last time. The cards will prove that you do.”

“Hmph! I can see we’re not going to get anywhere.”

“Not as long as we argue. I’ll call you and let you know if I find him.” He started toward the door.

“I won’t stay here. My father ruled my mother’s life, and to a degree, Carson’s and mine. Because I loved him and I thought he knew what was the right thing to do, I let him. But I was wrong.” She looked at Montana. “I’m not about to let you do that. I’m going with you. And you can’t stop me.”

She had a point about control. She wasn’t the first one to accuse him of taking over. But from the look on her face, Katherine Carithers wasn’t about to let that happen here.

Montana replaced the cheroot in his pocket, shrugged, and started toward the door. “Suit yourself.”

Seconds later she slammed the door behind them. “We’ll have to take your car. Carson is driving mine.”

“He took your car? Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

“His car must be in the shop,” she fibbed. She might want to string her brother up by his thumbs and torture him, but that was a family matter. “Let’s go. Vegas is a long drive.”

“Aren’t you going to lock the house?”

“Nope. There’s not much left inside to steal. If anybody wants to come in, they’ll just break a window, and that costs money to repair.”

Montana thought about his childhood home along the Battery in South Carolina. Though the house belonged to a stepfather who’d come into his life when he was only a boy, it was the only home he’d ever known.
His stepfather had kept it locked tight, protecting what he owned. The thing he had protected most was his reputation. Until Montana had ruined it.

Now Katie was throwing her reputation to the winds, riding down River Road with a notorious gambler. “Where do we go first?” she asked.

“The possibilities are endless. From Silver City to New Orleans, there must be a dozen gambling boats.”

Montana hoped that Carson had chosen one of them instead of the private games that moved from place to place. If he’d gone underground, he’d be harder to find. The only good thing about that kind of game was its high stakes. It wouldn’t take him long to lose his money. Except, those people didn’t fool around. There were no IOUs. It was pay up or toes up.

Montana had made it a practice to avoid those people.

Now the lady in red had thrust him right in the midst of the biggest gamble of his life. He figured that no matter the outcome, he’d lose either way.

He glanced over at Katie, at her lower lip caught between her teeth, and her dark hair flying in the wind. She was one determined lady. Nothing was going to stop her from saving her family—or her land.

Though he didn’t believe a search would find Carson, he knew nothing else would satisfy Katie. So, for the rest of the afternoon they searched for Carson Carithers. Nobody had seen him. Or if they had, they weren’t admitting it.

Montana didn’t mention Katie’s cardplaying again, but he made it a point to keep her away from the tables.
And Katie didn’t mention Montana’s charge that she’d cheated. Instead, as if they’d agreed on some unacknowledged truce, they talked of normal, everyday things.

They stopped for a late dinner at a small restaurant just off the interstate. Montana chose an outside table, overlooking the bayou.

“What would you like?” he asked.

“I don’t care.” Katie was weary and heartsick. Nobody had admitted to seeing Carson. “Just something light.”

He ordered pasta with shrimp and, remembering her choice of drink at the casino, iced tea. “Tell me about Carithers’ Chance.”

Katie’s eyes lit up. “Of course I never saw it at its best, but it covered over a thousand acres at one time. Before my father’s time, the Caritherses grew cotton, indigo, and eventually sugarcane.”

“Your father didn’t do any planting?”

“No. By then, most of the land had been sold. The last two generations of Caritherses concentrated on the shipping business.”

“And the house itself? I’ll bet it was once a showplace. Why haven’t you opened it to the public like some of the others?”

“My father never wanted that. Other than the hospital fund-raiser at Halloween, he didn’t welcome visitors.”

“Fund-raiser?”

“Oh, it’s a very grand occasion. The house is decorated by the Ladies of the Heart, an organization that
raises money for the hospital. We offer a costumed dinner-dance and a full range of gambling, all for charity, of course. Surely you’ve heard of our Mississippi Madness Charity Ball.”

“Yes I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never been invited. Not on the right social register, I guess.”